News

The organising project for theatre and film technicians started a few months ago by the Creative Workers’ Union of South Africa - CWUSA (see earlier reports) has already resulted in some 150 members in the new “technicians’ chamber” of the union. This was observed by UNI-MEI director Jim Wilson and TEME Finland representative Olli Vesala when they visited the CWUSA colleagues in early October. Equally important, the union is in discussions with virtually all the major employers (producers) associations in the sector in regard to standards for technicians.



The biggest increase in growth of new members took place when a CWUSA delegation set up a booth at the Grahamstown (Western Cape province) arts festival, one of the biggest events of the calendar year in the live performance sector in South Africa, around mid-year. Fifty new members were added just in the course of two days.



The CWUSA technicians’ project is being sponsored by UNI-MEI with TEME, the Finnish union, with financial support from SASK, the Finnish trade union solidarity foundcation.